The Warwickshire Cricket Foundation celebrated International Women’s Day by hosting a women’s and girls’ conference at Edgbaston Stadium.
This year’s theme focuses on “Accelerating Action,” which highlights the need to take swift and decisive steps towards achieving gender equality.
Around 50 participants attended the conference, which was hosted by Jess Ward, the Women’s and Girls’ Community Manager. The event featured a presentation from Beth Peers, the Marketing Manager at Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
The event began with an update to external funders and stakeholders present on the Foundation’s recent efforts to make women’s and girls’ cricket more accessible.
Attendees included representatives from organisations such as Lacuna Sports, Sport Birmingham, Swim England, and the Aston Villa Foundation.
The conference addressed several topics, including barriers to participation, health, and the impact of female role models in sports.
Jess Ward said: “As a community manager, my role isn’t just to connect women and girls with cricket, but to ignore their potential, amplify their voices, and create spaces where they can truly thrive.”
“It is crucial for stakeholders to come together and engage in meaningful discussions about the challenges we encounter in sports. By collaborating, we can identify these barriers and develop solutions to overcome them, ultimately to achieve this year’s International Women’s Day theme – accelerating action.”
Women’s and girls’ cricket is thriving in Warwickshire and Birmingham, and with the introduction of the Bears Women professional side this year, that growth is set to continue.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we hosted an evening dedicated to women and girls on Friday 28th February. The event honoured achievements from those involved in women’s and girls’ recreational cricket. To learn more about the evening and discover who received awards, click here.
Happy International Women’s Day!